Remember way back in the day when you used to see those sleek little three-wheeled cars bombing around Carlsbad? They were going to change the entire auto industry? They were Carlsbad’s little electric darlings? Then they went away. The company began refunding down payments and auctioning off all their property. And then crickets. Hard to believe that was almost a decade ago.
Well, it seems Aptera is back. This new promo video features neighborshoods all around us. Is yours in this video? Is so, let us know. And welcome back Aptera. The new cars look even more darling than they did nine years ago.
Aptera, Carlsbadistan’s once darling electric car manufacturer has throw in the towel due to some funding issues. And now the company is being forced to auction off all of its assets, according to a story on EGM Car Tech.
The company will auction off computers, furnishings and auto-repair equipment, in order to raise funds to pay off some of Aptera’s creditors, AutoObserver reports. . . The auction will be conducted by Heritage Global Partners on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21 on its website. A preview will be provided on Dec. 19.
Hope they have some extra Aeron chairs laying around. Guess we’ll find out on December 19, 2011.
Carlsbadistan’s electric car start-up Aptera is apparently experiencing some difficult times and is now reportedly in the process of refunding all customer deposits taken for it’s high-mileage small car, according to a post on Triple Pundit.
Unfortunately, the company has experienced numerous setbacks, and the production dates have repeatedly been pushed back. Although originally scheduled to be delivered in late 2008, production deadlines have been missed and moved back as design changes continued to mount and funds dwindled. In 2010, Aptera was denied $184 million, in U.S. Department of Energy loans. The company re-applied for the DOE loans under a revised bill, but those monies have yet to be awarded.
In November Aptera Motors founder Steve Fambro told Popular Mechanics that contrary to rumors he was not ousted from the company, he was simply on vacation until the end of the year. Well, the end of the year is over and now according to Venturebeat.com Fambro and his partner Chris Anthony are no longer employees of the Carlsbadistan based electric car manufacturer.
While Fambro and Anthony have retained their seats on the Carlsbad, Calif. company’s board of directors, they have little say in day-to-day decision making, even though it was their original vision. These responsibilities have fallen to Aptera’s new CEO Paul Wilbur — one of the main sources of conflict with the original leadership team (though it remains uncertain why the rift occurred).
They certainly dragged that exit out as long and as corporately correct as they could, didn’t they?
Carlsbadistan based electric car maker Aptera’s founder Steve Fambro tells Popular Mechanics that contrary to rumors quoted on Wired’s Autopia blog, he was not ousted “in a boardroom showdown,” he’s simply on vacation until the end of the year.
“I think some people read into this situation a little further than they should have, ” Fambro says. “Some folks were let go, and since they hadn’t seen me around—they put two and two together and made a fairly large and incorrect assumption,” he says. “Since I started Aptera, I’ve had like three or four vacation days. One of them was after receiving a 2008 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award in NYC. So I need to take some time, and come back in the beginning of the new year.”
Carlsbadistan’s next wave automobile company Aptera Motors appears to have hit more rough roads this week according to a story on Wired.com’s Autopia blog.
Aptera Motors has ousted founders Steve Fambro and Chris Anthony, sources told Wired, painting a picture of a boardroom confrontation between the original founders and the auto industry veterans the company brought in last fall. . . Rumors that Aptera Motors was letting them go and laying off an unknown number of people began swirling last week on the unofficial online Aptera Forum. The company says it simply elected to slow things down and minimize its burn rate while waiting for the Department of Energy to approve its loan application. It isn’t saying much about what happened to Fambro and Anthony, but claims the company’s relationship with them remains positive.
Sure, we’re guessing Fambro and Anthony are stoked that a bunch of Detroit guys came to California and took over the company, why wouldn’t they be?
In a letter to Aptera car fans, Carlsbadistan’s only car company has apologized for not getting cars out on schedule and promises to have them rolling by October 2009, according to a story on the blog Gas2.org:
Our most recent corporate commitment was that we would deliver the first production Typ-1, now known as the 2e, by the close of 2008. Despite our well-intentioned efforts, we were unable to complete that vehicle before the close of the year, so it’s now slated for January 16. However, unlike prior plans, this vehicle will not be delivered to a retail customer. We will continue our builds but at a much slower rate starting with a small test fleet of the enhanced vehicles, then moving to our volume production launch on October 1, 2009.”
The all-electric cars will be priced in the “mid $20k to $40k” range depending on options. We can hardly wait.
Carlsbadistan’s fuel efficient car company Aptera is one of 22 automaker teams who have registered for the Progressive Automotive X Prize, according to a story on Xconomy San Diego.
. . .the teams wlll compete in two dramatic, long-distance stage races scheduled for next year, X Prize spokeswoman Carrie Fox said. The $10 million purse is split between the alternative class and a mainstream class that requires entrants to operate cars with four-doors, 4-wheels and other basic features.”
Not a bad way to add $5 million to the bottom line while getting a little press along the way.
Carlsbad’s electric motorcycle company Aptera isn’t just messing around with all that “C” round money. They’re aiming right for the top, especially with their new hire of Paul Wilbur as president and chief executive officer.
Wilbur is an automotive industry veteran who brings 26 years of extensive automotive experience, ranging from product planning and finance to marketing and product development for leading car companies such as Ford and Chrysler. Most recently, Wilbur was the president and CEO of Detroit-based American Specialty Cars, a tier-1 supplier of open air and convertible roof systems and Saleen, a leading manufacturer of high performance specialty cars and trucks.
But the big question being asked in automotive circles is what has happened to former CEO and founder Steve Fambro? According to the Up To Speed blog in the LA Times: “Fambro will become chief technical officer, since “it is a much better role for him to concentrate on vehicle development.”
Right. And Up To Speed points out that the same thing that happened to Tesla Motors‘ founder Martin Eberhard. He was moved to a position called “president of technology.” Then four months later he left the company entirely.
Carlsbad’s three-wheeled electric motorcycle company Aptera Motors has received $2.75 million from RechargeIT, a company run by Google’s philanthropic arm, according to VentureBeat.
The 230+ miles-per-gallon Aptera has received plenty of attention over the past few months, and a post here on VentureBeat asking whether readers would drive the odd-looking vehicle continues to get responses indicating that yes, quite a few people are interested in the $30,000 car.
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